Summary
2024 hasn’t beenquiteas stacked as 2023,but it’s still been an incredibly busy year for gaming. That’s mostly a good thing, but it does mean that some gems manage to slip through the cracks.I like to think I’m pretty on top of my release calendaras someone who tries to play as many titles as possible, but there are still games that fly under my radar.
One of the biggest examples of that this year isUnknown 9: Awakening. I was generally aware of its existence andhad seen some trailers for it at Bandai’s recent events, but I hadn’t researched it to death like I do for most upcoming releases as I’d figured it wasn’t going to be for me. That was a mistake – after two hours of hands-on time at a recent preview event grabbed both my interest and my soul (you’ll get that in a minute).
Unknown 9 has you stepping into the shoes of Haroona, a Quaestor (someone who is aware of and seeks out the mysterious Unknown 9) born with the ability to jump into and manipulate the Fold, a ghostly universe that gives her powers like being able to turn invisible, summon a shield, and even leap into people’s souls to take control of them.
Quaest? What Kind Of Quaest?
Haroona’s unique abilities make her a target for the Ascendants, a secretive group that wants to use the Fold for themselves to change history, which leads to someone close to Haroona being taken away from her. This tragedy sets up her quest to find the Ascendants’ leader and use her powers to get revenge on the faction.
Right from the get go, I didn’t expect Unknown 9 to have such a lore-heavy and developed world. It does take some getting used to with how many new terms and names are thrown around, but jumping in is made a lot easier thanks to how likeable, confident, and charismatic Haroona, as played byThe Witcher’s Anya Chalotra, is.
My preview kicked off shortly after the game’s prologue and followed Haroona as she made her way around the fictional Indian city of Chamiri to find someone called Vincent. As I climbed around the city and made my way through the linear level by jumping across rooftops and sliding through back alleys it pleasantly reminded me of Uncharted, which was cemented the more Haroona quipped and talked to herself about her surroundings.
Unknown 9: Awakening is set in 1912, which is a nice change of pace for a third-person action game.
Combat That’s Full Of Soul
Eventually, Haroona found herself face to face with some of the Ascendants, which led to my first taste of what really makes Unknown 9 special - the powers. By manipulating the Fold, Haroona can block projectiles, distract enemies, restore some of her health, and even finish people off by brutally tearing their souls to shreds.
The real star of the show, however, is the ability to leap into people and take control of them, which gives the player a ton of different playstyle options during a battle. At the start of my demo, I was just hopping into people and walking them over to wherever I was hidden for an easy stealth kill, but as I unlocked the ability to do it more than once, I was forcing one rifle-wielding guard to shoot their friend in the head before jumping into someone else and making use their electricity sword on an unsuspecting Ascendant.
Haroona can feel very overpowered once you get the hang of her Fold abilities, but it never stopped being a joy manipulating enemies and cleverly taking them out one by one. The active stealth was the highlight of my time with Unknown 9 and never failed to make me feel like both a genius and a badass.
Things do eventually get a bit tougher when the Ascendants get a hold of alarms that trigger if you get too close, forcing you to be a bit more careful with how you use your powers.
An Uncharted Experience
When you’re tired of sneaking around enemies and decide to go in Fold blazing, the hand-to-hand combat is satisfying and, notably, a bit harder than stealth. Haroona has a mix of punches, dashes, and block-breaking heavy strikes which make her quite a tough cookie, but the Ascendants are surprisingly nimble and will regularly dodge and counter attack if you’re not careful.
After making my way through Chamiri and feeling pretty cocky about my new soul-ripping powers, my preview took Haroona to a jungle across the water, where she meets Luther, who I hope becomes her main companion. Luther is basically Unknown 9’s answer to Sully from Uncharted, right down to him being a cocky yet wise American treasure hunter.
Haroona is initially distant from Luther, but soon drops her guard and starts to work with him towards their common goal of stealing a blimp to escape the jungle. Just like Haroona, Luther is a very well-acted character that dragged me even deeper into Unknown 9, especially when the two start to get along and talk more as friends than reluctant travel buddies.
One of my favourite details during my preview was Haroona’s journal, in which she sketches and makes charming observations, like calling Luther a cowboy.
A Soul In Need Of Polish
The jungle section closed to my Unknown 9 preview and finished with a boss battle against someone called Mila, who was able to counter a lot of Haroona’s powers and made for a decent challenge since I couldn’t just go invisible and stealthily take her out. It’s a good sign that I was sad when the preview ended and that I was eager to see how Haroona’s quest for revenge finished and how far her powers could be taken.
Although my time with Unknown 9 sold me on its soul-jumping adventure, I did come away with a few concerns. While Haroona does have plenty of powers, I hope the final game has a few more for her to unlock to keep things fresh, as it felt like I was nearing the end of the surprisingly large skill tree after just a few hours.
My biggest worry, though, is with the game’s performance. The master build that I played was a little rough, with the performance dipping and diving and characters glitching in and out of cutscenes. It was nothing game-breaking or enough to put me off, but for something that’s just a month away, I hope the final release is a bit more polished.
Still, even with those worries, I was surprised at just how much Unknown 9 clicked with me. Its characters, world, and gameplay feel both like a throwback to the late PS3 era of linear third-person action games and an evolution of them thanks to its unique suite of powers. Here’s hoping that more people become aware of the Quaest before it launches next month.
